Clerk, a clergyman, a scholar, one who can read and write.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

CLARK. CLARKE. Lat. clericus. Fr. Le Cletc. A learned person — that is, one who could in old times read and write — accomplishments not so rare, after all, as Ave are sometimes induced to think, since this is among the commonest of surnames. Clark stands 27th and Clarke 39th in the Eegistrar General's comparative list: and for 33,557 Smiths registered within a given period, there were 12,229 Clarks and Clarkes. Thus for every three hammermen we have at least one ' ready writer.' If the Reg. General had reckoned Clark and Clarke as one name, it would have stood nmtJt, in point of numerousness. As a surname, Clarke appears frequently to have aliased some other appellative; for instance the baronet family, C. of Sal ford, originally Woodchurch, from the parish of that name in Kent, soon after the Conquest became Clarkes (Le Clerc) in consequence of a marriage with an heiress, and the family for some generations wrote themselves " Woodchurch alias Le Clerc," and Vice versa, until at length the territorial appellation succumbed to the professional one, which was right, for .

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.